In Wake of UN Report, Syrian Rebels Call For Swift Action From International Community

On Tuesday, Syria's main opposition group called for a quick response from the international community after the United Nations released a report confirming the use of chemical weapons last month.

The Syrian National Coalition said that the report presented by the UN was "damning and irrefutable evidence" that chemical weapons were used by the regime of Bashar al Assad, on his own people. In a statement the Coalition said, "The Syrian coalition urges the Security Council to end the culture of impunity in Syria, and to stop the Syrian regime from carrying out further war crimes and crimes against humanity."

In his remarks to the UN Security Council, UN chief Ban Ki-moon called the attack a "war crime" and said that the results were "indisputable." He said that the confirmed use of sarin gas during an attack in August was, "The most significant confirmed use of chemical weapons against civilians since Saddam Hussein used them."

While the UN has confirmed that a large-scale chemical weapon attack did in fact occur, the report managed to skirt around placing the blame on either side of the country's ongoing civil war, leaving room for continued debate between western countries and Syria's allies in Russia.

Meanwhile, Syrian Foreign Ministry officials called any attempts to change the political landscape by Western countries a "frantic quest to impose their will" on the Syrian people.

Syria also accused Turkey of trying to escalate the already tense international climate by shooting down a Syrian helicopter that entered its airspace. The two countries have been at odds during most of Syria's ongoing civil war, with Turkey supporting the country's opposition. According to Syrian officials, the aircraft entered Turkey "mistakenly," and was shot down by missiles fired by a Turkish jet.